The European Commission has approved funding for 77 nature conservation
projects under the LIFE Nature programme 2004. These projects will further
contribute to the establishment of the EU-wide Natura 2000 network of areas
safeguarding important wildlife habitats and threatened species. The projects
will physically restore protected areas and their fauna and flora, establish
sustainable management structures and strengthen public awareness. Of the
selected projects, 75 will be carried out in EU Member States and two in
Romania. LIFE Nature is one of three funding strands under the EU’s
environmental programme LIFE whose goal is to support the implementation of EU
environmental policies and legislation. Funding under LIFE approved in 2004
totals €160 million.

“The Natura 2000 network is the EU’s key contribution to
stopping the erosion of Europe’s biodiversity”, said Environment
Commissioner Margot Wallström. “With LIFE we are able to provide
funding to strengthen Natura 2000 and to help threatened animals and plants
recover. We need biodiversity - for emotional and ethical, economic and
ecological reasons -, and LIFE makes an important financial contribution to
preserving it."

LIFE Nature in 2004

Among 250 proposals submitted for LIFE Nature funding, the Commission has
selected 77. Together, they represent a total investment of €140 million
in nature conservation, of which the EU will cover €76 million. The
remaining funding will come from the beneficiaries, project partners and
co-financers.

Most of the selected LIFE Nature projects will directly target the
conservation or restoration of particular Natura 2000 sites or networks of
sites. Others aim to protect threatened or vulnerable animal or plant species.

The most common project activities deal with the development and
implementation of management plans; management of watercourses; land purchase
(especially in northern Europe); grazing management; elimination of alien
species; and site restoration and improvement. Part of all the projects are
measures to disseminate the results and lessons learnt to stakeholders and the
general public. If relevant, the projects will also monitor and document the
impact of their actions.

Background

LIFE Nature is part of the LIFE programme. Established in 1992, LIFE is the
EU's financial instrument supporting environmental and nature conservation
projects throughout the EU, in candidate countries and in some neighbouring
regions. The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the development and
implementation of EU environmental policy by financing specific actions. The two
other components of LIFE, LIFE Environment and LIFE Third Countries, focus on
innovative environmental protection measures, and environmental protection in a
number of countries neighbouring the EU. Since 1992, some 2400 projects have
received EU funding under the LIFE programme, representing an EU contribution of
€ 1,4 billion to the protection of the environment.

For projects approved under LIFE Environment and LIFE Third Countries, see
press releases IP/04/1087
and IP/04/1089.
See annex for a summary of the 77 projects funded under LIFE Nature. More
information about each project is available at:

Acting at a transboundary scale with altogether 13 partners (NGO, public and
private), the first project will restore river dynamics and riverbed structures
along almost the whole 112 km length of the river Lafnitz, from the Styrian
mountains to the lowlands of Hungary. Obstacles for migrating fish will be
removed from the river, old side arms and meanders will be reconnected and
desiccated alluvial forests will be regenerated.

The second project, covering a transboundary section of the Danube on the
German-Austrian border, seeks to protect the species-rich ravine woods, a forest
habitat type on steep slopes that can not be appropriately conserved by applying
the classical forestry management approach. Fire-bellied toad, crested newt, and
stag beetle, amongst others, will benefit from the management actions in the
floodplain and slope areas.

The third project aims to reconnect the river Danube to the Alpine foothill
rivers Ybbs, Pielach, Melk and Erlach. Currently, the Melk power station is
interrupting the river flow. This obstacle will be bypassed by a fish migration
channel, thereby extending spawning opportunies to the free-flowing Danube
section further upstream. The project will also recreate some typical but almost
vanished river habitats like gravel islands and natural bank areas at the mouth
of the river Ybbs.

Finally, the fourth project seeks to restore the remnants of the Pannonic
steppes and dry grasslands found in Eastern Austria. These sites, now very
isolated, have an important stepping stone function for a large number of highly
specialised and endangered species. The project should boost the management of
steppic grasslands, which are too often abandoned and inappropriately
maintained, and will exchange experience with neighbouring Czech Republic,
Slovakia and Hungary through an extensive international networking.

Belgium

Number of projects funded - 1

The project funded focuses on the restoration of grasslands and heathlands of
the Liereman area, in the vicinity of Turnhout (Flanders). Building upon its
past involvement at the project site, the beneficiary, a NGO, intends to secure
additional land to connect or merge fragmented areas and will then restore them.
It will also set up management structures to protect the threatened habitat
types and their associated fauna and flora. The project will be implemented in
collaboration with the local tourism sector.

Cyprus

Number of projects funded - 1

This project is aimed at implementing a series of pilot actions related to a
range of habitats (marine, mountain and lowland forests, grasslands, wetlands)
and species (mainly bird and plant species) in five different Natura 2000 sites
in Cyprus. It constitutes Cyprus’ first co-ordinated effort to set up a
sound management planning system for Natura 2000 in the country. The project is
undertaken by the Environment Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural
Resources and the Environment in collaboration with three other competent
authorities, one private consulting company and three Greek bodies (one
university, one NGO and one private consultancy).

Czech Republic

Number of projects funded - 1

The selected project aims to restore limestone and steppic grasslands as well
as endemic Pannonic oak and hornbeam forests in the Moravian Karst Protected
Landscape, next to the city of Brno. Over the years, local farmers abandoned
many of the most species-rich grasslands, whilst others have been converted into
open limestone quarries. Much of the natural forest vegetation has been cut and
replaced by plantations of Scots pine, larch and fir. Focussing on a 150 ha
project area, the project will be an incentive to integrate sustainable
agriculture, forestry and tourism in the management of this protected landscape
area.

Denmark

Number of projects funded - 2

Using a strategic nation-wide approach, one of the two projects to be funded
in Denmark this year will restore eleven of the most valuable grassland sites in
Denmark and secure their long term management over 4300 ha. One of these sites,
Mols Bjerge on Jutland, is also a pilot area for developing a model for national
parks in Denmark.

The second project targets the Odense River and the adjacent shallow marine
areas of Odense Fjord. Its main activity is the re-meandering and recreation of
12.2 km of the old river bed, to the benefit of the river itself, its rarest
inhabitant, the fresh-water mussel Unio crassus, and threatened species
of fish, such as Spined Loach (Cobites taenia) and Brook Lamprey(Lampetra planeri). Odense River is also one of 13 pilot river basins
selected in Europe to test the Water Framework Directive guidelines. Thus the
project has a considerable potential to result in good practices with regard to
linking the Water Framework Directive and Natura 2000.

Estonia

Number of projects funded - 3

The Great Crested Newt is an amphibian with a wide distribution in Europe,
but it has suffered from habitat decline in most of its range. Under this
international project, a selection of sites on the north-eastern borders of the
newt’s distribution area in Estonia and Finland will be restored and
protected with the assistance of Denmark.

Estonia also hosts significant parts of the European populations of Black
Stork (Ciconia nigra), Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina) and
single pairs of rare Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga). One project
aims to safeguard a network of the most important nesting sites from commercial
forestry.

The third Estonian project concentrates on the mixture of sand dune,
grassland and forest habitats concentrated on the Kopu Peninsula in the western
part of Hiiumaa Island. Here, a balance needs to be found that will conserve
this natural wealth and allow for tourism.

Finland

Number of projects funded - 2

One project from Finland will restore four valuable wetlands (all designated
as Special Protection Areas under the 1979 Birds Directive) of the Pirkanmaa
area in south-west Finland. The project area forms an important breeding,
resting and feeding area for many wetland bird species mentioned in the Bird
Directive. Actions include dredging and clearing of overgrown areas, building
breeding islets for the avifauna and managing the flows of visitors.

The second project is located in an area of eastern Finland called the
“green belt” – an extensive network of boreal forests and
mires in the border zone of Finland and Russia. The aim of this project is to
restore forests and mires in 13 Natura 2000 sites. An important aspect of the
project is the controlled periodic burning of forests to promote biodiversity
(to be done on 123 hectares in total). Local support and general awareness for
nature conservation are foreseen.

France

Number of projects funded - 7

The seven projects selected in France for funding this year are spread over
all four bio-geographic regions found in France.

In addition, the two bird projects dealing with Tetrax tetrax and
Acrocephalus paludicola will provide an opportunity to develop
partnerships between France and organisations involved in the conservation of
these migratory species in Spain and Poland. Both projects will also contribute
to the updating of the European Action Plans for their respective target
species.

Another project covers the Poitevin marshes. It aims to restore a sample of
habitat types and improve the capacity of the marshes to accommodate wetland
birds of international importance.

The last project is a challenging pilot project dealing with 16 Natura 2000
sites in the Rhône-Alpes region. Its objective is to promote the
integration of Natura 2000 into rural development policies designed at the local
level.

Germany

Number of projects funded - 2

One of the two German projects, submitted by a NGO in northern Germany,
tackles the remaining populations of Bombina bombina, the fire-bellied
toad, in its most northern habitats around the Baltic Sea. It is part of a
multi-national effort, closely cooperating with local and national authorities
as well as two NGOs in Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark, Sweden and Latvia. Genetic
analyses will be used to clarify population trends. In numerous project
sub-sites, various actions will seek to improve habitats and fill them with
toads bred in captivity. Another important aspect of this project is networking
between the partners and various external bodies.

The second project focuses on the alluvial floodplain of the river Rhine,
right next to the urban area of Karlsruhe. The habitats in this mixture of
traditional, dynamic riparian environment and man-made landscape will be
improved. The project includes actions in support of the declining white willow
and black poplar woodlands, but also targets several other wetland and river
habitats. The beneficiary has assembled an impressive number of partners:
district authorities and municipalities as well as local angler associations and
nature conservation NGOs. Due to huge local recreation demands, a substantial
part of the project will develop new information strategies, including an
electronic mobile nature guide that will be tested.

Greece

Number of projects funded - 3

All three Greek projects selected for funding this year will take place on
islands. The first project targets three priority bird species (two raptor
species and one marine bird species) on the small Aegean island of Tilos. It
will seek to improve their habitats. Responsible for the project is the
municipality in collaboration with the regional forest directorate and a private
nature conservation company.

The second project, on Crete, will be undertaken by the Hellenic Centre of
Marine Research in collaboration with a local research institute and two local
NGOs. It targets the priority habitat type “Mediterranean temporary
ponds”. This will be the first time ever that an effort to conserve this
particular habitat type in Greece is made.

The third project, put forward by Athens University in collaboration with a
local research institute and the regional forest directorate, is aimed at
creating a pilot network of seven micro-reserves in Western Crete to guarantee
the conservation of several endemic priority plant species listed in the 1992
Habitats Directive.

Hungary

Number of projects funded - 4

One of the projects targets the national population of the great bustard.
This project’s aim is to increase the population of the world’s
heaviest flying bird by 10% during the project duration and by 50% within the
next ten years. It is possible to reach these ambitious targets given that five
National Parks, four NGOs, one university and the Ministry of Environment are
involved in the project.

The second project seeks to save 95% of the world population of the Hungarian
subspecies of the meadow viper, a small venomous snake that is threatened by
extinction. Actions include habitat restoration, site management and captive
breeding, all part of a detailed action plan. Very important for ensuring the
survival of an unpopular species is the involvement of citizens and
stakeholders, which the project envisages.

The other two projects in Hungary deal with habitats. The
Egyek-Pusztakócs project takes a holistic approach to restoring the mosaic
of Pannonic grasslands and marshes in this area. Restoration actions
(transformation of arable land to Pannonic loess and salt steppes, grazing with
grey cattle and racka sheep, reed bed management) will be carried out on 1,500
ha of priority habitats, but their conservation impact will extend over 5,000 ha
because ecological corridors and buffer zones need to be established.

The fourth project will be the final step in protecting the highly endangered
wetlands of the Central Bereg Plain, in the least developed region of Hungary
near the border with Ukraine. Emergency actions have been taken since the 1980s,
but now 430 ha of priority habitats (mires, fens, bogs and wetlands) can be
fully restored and their water supply can be guaranteed. A number of highly
valuable grassland and forest habitats in the surroundings will also be restored
and then simultaneously act as buffer zones for the wetlands.

Ireland

Number of projects funded - 2

One project funded targets the Burren region in western Ireland, one of the
largest and most important limestone pavement areas in Europe. The nature of
the landscape owes much to many centuries of agricultural use, but in recent
decades there has been a reduction in activity leading to degradation of
priority habitats and scrub invasion. In the mild climate of the Burren region,
the winter grazing of livestock is seen to be the key to maintaining
biodiversity. The project seeks to develop a model for sustainable agricultural
management by testing new support mechanisms on pilot areas. It has the full
support of local farmers, who will be actively involved in promoting the results
of the project.

The second project, proposed by the Irish Forestry Board, aims to restore a
suite of raised bog sites in the Irish Midlands through the removal of conifer
plantations and the blocking of drainage ditches. The work will complement wider
management plans for the sites under which peat cutting will cease and natural
hydrology will be restored. Fourteen sites have been chosen covering a total
area of 570 ha. Two sites will be used to demonstrate the practical techniques,
especially to the forestry sector, and to raise general public awareness through
boardwalk access and interpretation.

Italy

Number of projects funded - 12

Out of the twelve projects funded this year, seven will deal with the
management of extensive networks of Natura 2000 sites. More than 20 priority
habitat types, including dunes, coastal lagoons, alluvial forests and mountain
habitats, will be targeted.

One of these projects is aimed at managing 34 Natura 2000 sites administered
by the State Forestry Corp. Another project will address seven Natura 2000 sites
in the Lazio region. Still another project targets Mediterranean habitat types
in Tuscany.

Five projects include measures aimed at animal species: the first of these is
a multinational project to reduce the conflict between human activities and
large carnivores in Italy and four other EU Mediterranean countries. The second
species-project envisages the reintroduction of the endemic Adriatic sturgeon,
which is highly endangered in its limited natural range, the Po basin. A project
in the Italian seas proposes conservation measures for the sea turtle, while a
project in north-western Italy will aid the endemic Aurora’s salamander
and other amphibians to maintain their populations. The fifth species-project
funded in Italy this year targets the Audouin’s gull in the Tuscan
Archipelago National Park.

Five LIFE-Nature projects are aimed at managing habitats of EU interest, such
as woodlands, grasslands and wetlands. The actions planned will also benefit
several species of EU concern, including Aster sorrentinii, a strictly
endemic plant of Sicily, considered a conservation priority under the Habitats
Directive.

Latvia

Number of projects funded - 3

Two Latvian projects, both proposed by the Latvian Fund for Nature, take a
strategic approach to protecting key habitats across Latvia. One targets 16
floodplain meadows covering altogether 14,085 ha. None of the sites have had
much prior restoration or management and so they are in urgent need of action.
The first step will be to draw up comprehensive management plans for each site
in close collaboration with the stakeholders and land owners concerned, and then
to implement the most urgent restoration actions on around 2,400 ha. An
awareness raising campaign will be launched amongst the stakeholders to inform
them of possibilities to manage their floodplain meadows through the forthcoming
Rural Development Programme for Latvia and to assist them to access these
funds.

The second strategic project concentrates on conserving four major mire
complexes in Latvia covering altogether 9,947 ha. The project involves 17
partners, including the state forest services and 8 local municipalities.
Together they will agree on detailed management plans for each of the sites and
will begin implementing some of the most urgent restoration actions needed, such
as extensive ditch blocking and scrub removal.

The final project concerns the Razna Nature park, which, covering 53,000 ha,
is the second largest protected area in Latvia. A wetland complex of significant
conservation value, the area contains 125 lakes and 90% of Latvia’s
freshwater fish population. The area is becoming increasingly popular for
recreation and tourism so the first step will be to agree a management and
zoning plan for the area in close consultation with the local municipalities and
private landowners and then to establish and implement the necessary protection
regulations identified.

Netherlands

Number of projects funded - 4

The four Dutch projects funded this year exhibit a wide variety of
applicants, biotopes and species. Two projects focus on endangered species. The
project Alde Feânen will take place in Fryslân, where an NGO aims to
restore wetlands for the benefit of the endangered endemic Dutch subspecies of
the root vole.

The other species-project targets the conservation of amphibians in 14
sub-sites throughout the eastern part of the country through small-scale habitat
restoration measures.

The Tiengemeten project is unique, as it will convert the entire 900 ha large
island Tiengemeten in the Haringvliet (Rhine-Maas estuary, south of Rotterdam)
into natural habitats. Dikes and levees will be removed to turn the
island’s farmland into an estuarine wilderness.

Finally, the Bargerveen project aims to restore one of the only remaining
raised bog ecosystems in the Netherlands. Although raised bogs were once common,
they were exploited or drained so that presently only a few degraded bogs occur.
LIFE will pay for large-scale hydrological restoration to boost peat formation.

Common to all four Dutch LIFE Nature projects is the proximity of intensive
farmland, large recreation areas or big towns. Therefore, the beneficiaries will
involve local stakeholders and monitor the effects of the restoration measures.

Poland

Number of projects funded - 1

This project, managed by an NGO in the Pomerania and Western Pomerania
regions, aims to protect two priority habitat types: active raised bogs (585 ha)
and bog woodland (4180 ha). The project covers 23 sites, which are either
protected by the law already (16) or will receive statutory protection in the
course of the project (7). By the end of the project, a bog conservation manual
is to be produced. The regional public bodies responsible for nature
conservation and the regional forest administrations will be involved as project
partners.

Portugal

Number of projects funded - 3

The first project seeks to implement the Birds Directive in the marine area
under Portuguese jurisdiction, by identifying the most suitable coastal and
pelagic areas for those breeding, migrating and wintering seabirds listed in the
Birds Directive.

The second project targets several coastal habitats and endemic plants found
in the Natura 2000 area Sintra/Cascais, some with very restricted natural ranges
and most facing population declines, requiring urgent action. Coastal dunes will
be restored and extended to stop the isolation of the target plant populations.

The third project is set up as a pilot scheme for the future management of
two Natura 2000 sites in North-eastern Alentejo. The management plans to be
produced under the project will integrate existing legal planning instruments
and promote a sustainable management of Quercus montados and other
priority habitats. They will also seek to minimise the impacts of last
summer’s forest fires. Awareness raising actions will target local
stakeholders and the general public.

Romania

Number of projects funded - 2

The successful Romanian applications for this year’s LIFE-Nature
co-financing include a project focusing on one of the rarest goose species in
the world: Branta ruficollis.

Action will be taken to improve the wintering habitat of the species at
Techirghiol Lake (South-East Romania), where wintering figures have reached 31%
of the species’ world population in peak years. The project aims to create
safe roosting conditions and suitable feeding grounds at this key location by
controlling disturbance and hunting, and by ensuring sufficient feeding
resources during the coldest season.

The second project is an effort to conserve a sub-Mediterranean forest with
Pinus nigra banatica at the Domogled-Valea Cernei National Park, in
South–West Romania. The project aims to ensure the long-term conservation
of this habitat by appraising its status and implementing a site-management
plan. This includes visitor control and habitat restoration measures over 25 ha.

Partnerships in both projects involve both competent authorities at regional
and local levels and NGOs or local stakeholders.

Slovakia

Number of projects funded - 1

The beneficiary of this project, the State Nature Conservancy, has set up a
collaborative partnership with the Forest Research Institute, municipalities,
and national and local NGOs to restore and conserve the habitat diversity and
threatened flora and fauna of the Slovensky Rai (“Slovak Paradise”)
National Park. Measures include the development of a management plan (with
special attention to visitors’ impact on the fragile ecosystems), the
repair of heavily frequented footpaths, the restoration of fens, dry rocky
grasslands and mountain meadows and finally the improvement of beech forest and
western Carpathian calcicolous pine forests. As so many tourists visit this
site, voluntary rangers and forest managers will be trained to pay appropriate
attention to this valuable Natura 2000 area.

Slovenia

Number of projects funded - 2

The first project, presented by the Institute for Nature Conservation, will
make a significant contribution to the establishment of the Natura 2000 network
in Slovenia, by producing a guidance document for the preparation of site
management plans. These guidance documents will be elaborated in collaboration
with all national competent administrations. The project will also establish an
information system with a specific Natura 2000 database and will help preparing
five specific management plans, ensuring habitats and species conservation over
a total area of 67.000 ha. Finally, concrete conservation and public awareness
measures will be carried out in all sites for which the plans are being
prepared.

The second project is aimed at the conservation of the otter (Lutra
lutra) in the Goričko Nature park in north-eastern Slovenia, along the
Austrian and Hungarian border, where a viable population of this species
survives.

The project foresees a detailed survey of the Lutra lutra population,
a series of mitigation measures to reduce the impact of traffic and
infrastructure threatening the otter’s migration corridors. The project
also includes measures to raise local public awareness of the importance of the
otter.

Spain

Number of projects funded - 13

This year, representatives of many faunal groups are targets of the LIFE
projects funded in Spain: from invertebrates (the freshwater mussel
Margaritifera auricularia) to fish (the Spanish toothcarp), reptiles (the
European Pond Terrapin) and mammals (ten chiropteran species).

The Ebro River freshwater mussel populations, which represent 99% of the
world population and were once considered extinct, will be fully protected
thanks to this and another ongoing LIFE-Nature project. For the other species,
habitat management and conservation programmes will allow for an improvement of
their status in important regional and EU locations. For example, the project on
chiropterans aims to ensure the long-term conservation of the populations of
bats in 23 areas proposed as Natura 2000 sites.

Four projects target the protection of bird species and their habitats. The
urgent conservation of the Canarian subspecies of the Egyptian vulture will be
addressed, and the main threats detected in its habitat will be tackled. The
bearded vulture will be brought back to Southern Spain, where it became extinct
some 20 years ago, through reintroduction and a wide anti-poisoning campaign.

The two remaining bird conservation projects have wider and more general
scopes: while one of them will deal with the removal of generic threats to birds
in the entire regional Natura 2000 network in Aragón, the other one is
aimed at identifying a national network of marine IBAs (= Important Bird Areas)
that will be the basis for developing Natura 2000 in such environments.

A series of projects intends to carry out management measures and restoration
of different habitats in a range of environments. Coastal environments will be
dealt with through projects to restore dunes in the Atlantic (Basque Country)
and the Mediterranean (Valencia) coastline. Also in Valencia, a singular habitat
in the interface of coastal and inland terrain will be duly protected. The
forests and steppes of Community Interest found in River Canyon in the Spanish
Castilian plateau, and the depleted endemic thermophylous forests of the Canary
Islands complete the variety of habitats for which conservation solutions will
be sought.

Sweden

Number of projects funded - 2

Sweden hosts a significant part of the European population of the Freshwater
Pearl Mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera). Within a project targeting 20
river sites over the country, around 3 % of the EU population will benefit from
habitat restoration in order to assure the long-term survival of the mussel
populations.

The other Swedish project deals with the restoration of the wetland at
Asköviken, a Natura 2000 site with a long tradition in the
“ornithological history” in Sweden. It is located on the northern
shore of Lake Mälaren around 100 km from Stockholm.

United Kingdom

Number of projects funded - 2

The first is a strategic project to safeguard and maintain the abundance and
diversity of the Atlantic salmon in Scotland. The project will deal with eight
salmon river Natura 2000 sites, seeking to remove obstacles to passage, improve
riparian woodland and reduce the threat of silt from bank erosion and
agricultural practices. In-stream works will improve the habitat for spawning
and juvenile salmon, and commercial netting will be halted on two rivers. The
project will also develop best-practice guidelines for wider dissemination.

The second is an international project, supported by Member States, to
estimate the numbers of small cetaceans in European Atlantic waters. The main
species targeted are harbour porpoise, bottlenose dolphin and common dolphin.
Reliable, up-to-date information is essential for the development of management
frameworks, which inform discussions on sustainable levels of by-catch. The
survey will update work completed in 1994 and improve the methods for a regular
monitoring of the species.